Gearing device for wringers.



O. B. WOODROW.

GEARING DEVICE FOR WRINGERS. APPLICATION HLED OCT. 1, 1909.

- Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHET 1 Hill 0. B. WOODROW.

GEARING DEVICE FOR WRINGEHS.

APPLICATION HLED ON. I 1.909.

Patented Feb. 1, 1916."

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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OLIVER B. WOODROW, OF NEWTON, IOWA, ASSIG-NOR TO THE AUTOMATIC ELECTRICWASHER 00., 0F NEWTON, IOWA, A CORPORATION OF IOWA.

GEABING DEVICE FOR WRINGERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented net. i, was.

. Application filed October 1, 1909. Serial No. 520,539.

To all whom it may confirm:

Be it known that I, OLIVER B. WooDRow, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newton, in the county of Jasper and State of Iowa, haveinvented a certain new and useful Gearing Device for l/Vringers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a gearing device forwringers of simple, durable, and inexpensive construc-- tion, arrangedin compact form and contained in a casing attached to the side of awringer in such a way that it can be connected by a belt with thedriving mechanism of the washing machine.

A further object is to provide a mechanism whereby the movement of thewringer may be stopped or reversed very quickly or easily by means of alever arranged adjacent to the wringer and readily accessible to eitherhand of the operator when placing clothes in the wringer, so that in theevent the operators hand should be caught in the wringer, the wringermay be quickly stopped and reversed.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combinationof the various parts of the device whereby the objects contemplated areattained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims,and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a complete gearing device for washingmachines and wringers embodying my invention, the pulley of the wringermechanism being removed to show certain details of construction. Fig.2'shows an enlarged, detail, side view of the wringer operatingmechanism, the .casing being shown in section. Fig. 3 shows a view ofthe main shaft of the wringer operating mechanism and connected parts,and Fig. 4 shows an end elevation of a washing machine and wringerhaving my improved gearing device applied thereto, and

ever, is ofthe usual kind and is operated by 7 means of the rack bar 12on top of the body;

The means for operating said rack comprises a platform 13 connected withthe supporting legs 11. On said platform are the bearings 14 thatsupport the main power shaft 15. On this power shaft is a large gearwheel 16 fixed to the shaft by means of the set-screw. This gear wheelis arranged to be driven by means of an electric motor 18 or othersuitable source of power, which motor is provided with a pinion 19 inmesh with the large gear wheel 16 so that during the operation of themotor the power shaft will be rotated. Rotatably mounted on the powershaft 15 is a sleeve 20 having thereon a pinion 21, and also having aratchet clutch member. This pinion 21 is for the purpose of operating alarge gear wheel 23 which gear wheel is rotatably mounted on the shortshaft 24 and is provided with a wrist pin 25 having a pitman 26connected with it and also connected with a lever 27, which lever isfulcrumed at 28 and is connected at its upper end with the rack 12 sothat when said pinion 21 is rotated, the rack 12 will be reciprocated.Rotatably mounted on the power shaft 15 is a sleeve 29 having fixed toone end thereof a pulley 30 and on the other end is a ratchet clutchmember. llhis pulley 30 is provided with a belt 32 designed to operatethe wringing mechanism as hereinafter described. Between the sleeves 20and 29 is a sliding, clutch member 33 having an annular groove 34therein and having two ratchet clutch members at its ends designed toengage with the clutch members of the said rotatably mounted sleeves.The sleeve 33 is keyed upon but slidingly mounted upon the shaft 15,whereby the said shaft may be in continuous operation but the wringermechanism and agitator operating mechanism may run idle. When the sleeve33 is in the position asshown in Fig. 4: of the drawing, the clutchmembers of the sleeve are out of engagement with the clutch members ofthe sleeves 20 and 29, thereby the gear 21 and the pulley 30 are idle.To operate the pulley 30 the sleeve 33 will move upon the shaft 15 untilthe shaft member thereof engages thereby the sleeve 29 will rotate withthe shaft 15 and the pulley will be rotated.

In operating the gear wheel 21 the sleeve 33 is moved in the oppositedirection until one of the clutch members thereof engage the clutchmember of the sleeve 29 the clutch member of the sleeve 20, whereby thesaid sleeve will be rotated and as gear wheel 21 is carried by saidsleeve, the said gear wheel will also be rotated. To provide means formanually adjusting the sleeve 33,

. I fulcrum upon the body 10 of the washing machine, as at 39, a lever38 which is connected at its lower end to the sleeve 33 in any preferredor well known manner and the upper end of the said lever 38 is held inadjustable position by a suitable clutch member 40.

The wringer is indicated by the reference numeral 44 and is of theordinary construction, comprising two rollers geared together as isusual and of itself forms no part of my present invention. It is appliedto the washing machine .in the ordinary way.

One of the roller shafts is extended outwardly beyond the side of thewringer frame and is indicated by the reference numeral 45 I and drivesthe other rollers by gear 45 as shown in Fig. 5. This shaft has fixed toit a sprocket wheel 46 and a pinion 47 J ournaled within bearings on thewringer frame below the shaft 45 is a shaft 48 having rotatably mountedon it a sleeve 49 having'a pinion 50 and a ratchet clutch member 51.

Rotatably mounted on the same shaft 48 is a second sleeve 52 havingthereon a sprocket wheel 53 and a ratchet clutch member 54. Between saidsleeves, I have mounted on the shaft 48 a sleeve 55 having an annulargroove 56 therein and having two ratchet clutch members 57 and 58 at itsends. A key 59 is provided for said sleeve 55. Mounted on the sprocketwheels 46 and 53 is a sprocket chain 60 to operatively connect them, andthe pinions 47 and 50 are arranged in mesh with each other. On the saidshaft 48 is a pulley 61 connected by the belt 32 with the pulley 30.

I have provided means for shifting the sleeve 55 as follows: Fixed tothe wringer frame is a bracket 62 having a vertical shaft 63 mountedtherein. This shaft is provided with a crank arm 64, which crank arm isdesigned to enter the annular groove 56 of the sleeve 55. At the upperend of the shaft 63 is a horizontally arranged handle 65. This handleextends upwardly through a bracket 66 which is fixed to the wringerframe and provided with notches 67 to receive the handle 65. A spring 68is applied to the lower end of the shaft 63 to yieldingly hold saidshaft downwardly so that said handle may be held in the adjacent notch67. I have also provided an inclosing casing for the gearing device thatis applied to the wringen. This casing comprises a sheet metal shield 69to completely encircle the wringer gearing mechanism, said shield beingfixed to the wringer frame. In practical operation with this part of thedevice, it is obvious that when the sleeve 55 is in its centralposition,

the shaft 48 may run idle, and when moved to one limit of its movement,the pinion 50 will be operated, thus turning the wringer shaft in'onedirection, and when moved to its other limit of movement, the sprocketwheel 53 will be operated which will have the effect of turning thewringer shaft in the opposite direction. All of this mechanism isarranged close to the wringer, and the lever by which it is controlledis readily accessible to an operator usingthe wringer so that thewringer may be thrown into or out of gear or its movement reversed veryquickly and easily.

It is obvious from the foregoing that the wringer reversing mechanism iscarried by the frame of the wringer proper whereby the same may beeasily and readily applied to any power operated washing machine now 1nuse.

It is obvious that the wringer may be readily and quickly detached fromthe washing machine by simply removing the belt without in any wayaffecting the operation of the washing machine and the said wringer'mayalso be applied to any washing machine of the ordinary kind, it beingonly necessary to provide a belt for the pulley 61. The advantages ofthis are obvious when it is considered that the washing machinesoperated by power are frequently sold without the wringer and itsoperating attachment, hence my improved wringer device may also be soldindependently of the washing machine and may be applied to any ordinarywashing machine of the class described.

I claim as my invention:

1. In apparatus of the class described, a

support, adriving mechanism in said sup port, a shaft in the upper partof said support,'connections from said driving mechanism to said shaft,a counter shaft parallel,

with said shaft, a chain driving mechanism and a gear drivingmechanismfrom said shaft to said counter shaft, a clutch on said shaftand a controlling device for said clutch for throwing in either thechain driving mechanism or the gear driving mechanism to said countershaft, a roller on said counter shaft, another roller geared to saidfirst roller substantially as described.

v 2. In apparatus of the class described, a support, a driving mechanismunderneath said support, a shaft located at the top ofsaid support andadapted to be driven from said driving mechanism, a second shaftparallel to the first shaft and having a roller thereon, reversibledriving connections between said first shaft and said second shaft and asecond roller adjacent and geared to said first roller.

3. In apparatus of the class described, a support, a casing on thesupport,'a shaft -mounted in the support within the casing andprojecting outwardly from and provided with a driving pulley at its end,a second the gear driving mechanism, a roller on the shaft within thecasing parallel to the first second shaft, another roller parallellyadja- 10 shaft, a' chain driving mechanism and a dicent and geared tosaid first roller.

rect gear driving mechanism from said first Des Moines, Iowa, Sept. 6,1909.

5 shaft to said second shaft, a clutch on the OLIVER B. WOODROW.

first shaft, manuallycontrolling means Witnesses: whereby. said secondshaft may be driven FRANK M. WVoomzow,

either by the chain driving mechanism or E. B. LAWSON.

